


Control

by Mydear_ladydisdain



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Possible Dub-Con, post Thor The Dark World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:05:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1392112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mydear_ladydisdain/pseuds/Mydear_ladydisdain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki surprises Courtney late at night in Jane Foster's lab and makes her an offer she can't refuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All In A Night's Work

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this as a birthday present for a friend.

The first time Loki walked into the lab, Courtney nearly had a heart attack. She had been working for Jane Foster for only a few weeks and, as the new blood, was relegated to the night shift. Watching algorithms run, taking notes, and putting out fires (Which, thanks to Jane’s homemade technology, more than a few were literal rather than figurative.)  
Courtney was watching numbers scroll by on a screen, not really paying attention, when a bright flash of light behind her caused her to fall off her chair and huddle instinctively beneath her desk. When her eyes readjusted to the dim lighting in the lab she saw a pair of boots and leather clad legs. She scooted further under the desk, pressing her back to the wall, hoping that whomever the boots and legs belonged to hadn’t seen her.

Bright flashes of light and people suddenly appearing out of thin air were not good omens. That was one of the first things she’d learned on the job, listening to Jane and Darcy, and occasionally Thor, telling their war stories. She put her hand over her mouth and nose, trying to quiet her suddenly too loud breathing, and willed herself to be smaller or, more ideally, invisible. One of the boots gave an impatient tap, however, and a voice like silk wove its way to her hiding place underneath the desk.

“Mortal, do not play games, I haven’t the time and you haven’t the skill. Come out of there at once.”

Shaking, Courtney slowly exited her hiding place. Standing, she looked up at the owner of the voice and nearly dove back under the desk again. She knew this man….god…alien. She had seen his picture on the news and he had been described to her many times by those who had witnessed him firsthand. Something she had hoped never to do. Was actually sure she’d never have to do, as he was supposed to be dead. But here he was, clad in armor, but sans the horned helmet he had worn in the news clips. He was tall and lean, but nothing about him gave the appearance of weakness. Strength and power radiated off of him. She was immediately terrified and not just because he was between her and the only exit.

“Loki,” she whispered.

He smirked at her and gave a brief nod of his head.

“But,” she stammered, “You’re dead. Thor said….on Svartelheim… I mean…”

“My brother is as unobservant as he is dimwitted,” Loki said distractedly. “Are there any more of your kind here?”

“My kind?”

“Humans,” he scoffed and then looked wary. “Or anyone of any other kind?”

“No,” she answered. “I’m the only one in the lab at night.”

“Any recording devices?”

She shook her head.

“No. S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to insist upon cameras, but Jane said they interfered with the frequencies on her equipment. I think mostly she doesn’t trust them.”

He tilted his head and gave her an appraising look.

“You are quite the forthcoming one.”

She gulped.

“I have no filter when I’m nervous.”

He grinned a sly grin.

“I make you nervous.”

She waved her hands up and down, motioning to all of him and gave a little snort.

“Supposed to be dead not dead alien god. Put yourself in my shoes.”

“I’d rather not,” was his simple reply.

Silence fell between them as he looked around the lab and all of its equipment. He walked over to a computer screen and tapped it with his long fingers.

“Explain this machine,” he demanded.

“Um,” she started, “I just run the numbers. Jane’s the techie. Sometimes Tony, if he’s here. I-I don’t…what is it that you want?”

The whole time she was speaking, his attention was focused on the screen, green eyes taking in the scrolling numbers. She inched backwards as slowly as her panicked body would allow and reached for the only thing that she could defend herself with. There was, on her desk, a butter knife that she had minutes before used to spread cream cheese on her bagel. Pathetic, but the only thing that might serve as a weapon. As her fingers closed around it, Loki turned, and quicker than she could process, prized it from her hand, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. He towered over her, fingers cutting off circulation to her hand and leaned down until their foreheads almost touched.

“No.” was all he said and gave her a look that was almost disappointed as he released her hand.

She rubbed her wrist and sat numbly down in her chair, starting to come to terms with the fact that she wouldn’t be leaving this lab alive.

“Your Jane Foster is too clever by half,” he said after a moment. “She is on the brink of discovering things that you mortals have no business knowing. If I am to continue my rule on Asgard, these things can not come to light.”

Tears had started to stream down her cheeks and he turned to her again.

“You are right to be afraid,” he said. “But fear makes a powerful bargaining tool. I assume you wish to live?”

She nodded.

“I thought as much. I need you to assure than Jane Foster does not get the information she seeks. Science and Magic are closely bound. Sometimes they are one and the same. It will do the realms no good for humans to have this knowledge.”

“What do you want me to do? If I destroy her research, they’ll know it’s me. I’ll be locked away in a prison somewhere and S.H.I.E.L.D. will throw away the key. They will build Jane a  
new lab and it will all start all over.”

“You think too large,” he said. “Why topple the palace when you can undermine the foundation. Something small. Something that will take them time to find. That is all you need to do. I will be keeping a watch on the situation and will return if I feel it is necessary. I spare your life and you are in my debt. You are mine to command, now, little mortal.”

He bridged the small distance between them with one stride and took her head in both his large hands, his fingers pressing almost painfully, but not quite, into her scalp.

“Do not forget that and do not disappoint me.”

And with that, he was gone.

Courtney stood alone in the lab, shaking like a leaf. She focused on steadying her breathing and her racing heartbeat. When she was sure she could move without falling over, she went to the main computer and logged back through several months of data. Well before her start on the project. She changed a decimal here and altered a formula slightly there and then let the program run again. Then, she returned to her desk and took her notes and ate her bagel and watched the numbers spiral out of control.


	2. Subterfuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki visits Courtney at her home.

“I don't understand it,” Jane said, looking at a printout of her data. “Things were going so well. I was close, really close, I just know it.”

“Perhaps there was some factor you didn't account for,” Eric Selvig answered, reading the printout over Jane's shoulder. “The formula wasn't perfect, far from it. We're only going off the information we have which, even with Thor's input, is precious little. We'll find it. We just have to get our hands dirty and dig through the data manually.”

Courtney yawned from her chair as her head dipped and then snapped back up, trying to pay attention to the conversation between the two scientists. First to see if they knew that she was complicit in this sudden corruption of their work and second to see if they knew how to go about fixing it right away. She imagined Loki was true to his word and was monitoring the situation. The longer between his “visits” the better, as far as she was concerned. Selvig, who had been focused on Jane and the printout took notice of her presence as she yawned.

“What time did the anomalies start?” he asked.

She tried her best to look confused. 

“Around three, maybe? I can't be sure. It all looked fine until it wasn't.”

He grunted.

“The next time you think things aren't going right, call Jane or I immediately,” he said sternly. “Your lack of response has cost us weeks if not months of progress.”

“Eric,” Jane said, a slight warning in her voice. “It's not her fault. She's new and the formulas are complex. Plus, she's exhausted. Just look at her. Between her classes and here, it's no wonder.”

“I understand that,” he answered. “But what good is it having her here on her own at night to watch the numbers, if she doesn't understand what she's looking for?”

Jane shot Selvig a look that silenced him and brooked no arguments and he took the printout from Jane, grumbling as he sat down and started looking over it himself. Jane came to stand in front of Courtney and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You've been working so hard,” she said. “You have your masters exams coming up, right?”

Courtney nodded.

“Why don't you take some time off,” Jane continued. “We're dead in the water here until I find the problem. Take a week, focus on your studies and come back with a fresh mind, ok? No worries, no trouble, no harm done. Sound good?”

Courtney suddenly found herself wishing that Jane wasn't so nice. If she was a tyrant bitch of a boss, then maybe she wouldn't feel so bad about manipulating the formulas. Loki had made it pretty clear that it was her life or subterfuge, but she had a major case of guilt about all of this and Jane's understanding tone wasn't helping. She felt tears springing to hear eyes, unbidden.

“None of that,” Jane said. “Go home, get some rest, ace your exams, and we'll see you back here soon. An internship isn't worth wearing yourself down like this. Ask Darcy. Actually, don't ask Darcy. Her major contribution has been a terabyte of illegally downloaded music. Not the best example.”

Jane continued rambling as Courtney gathered her things, said her goodbyes and exited the building.

There was still something about coming to work when the desert was cold and dark and clear and leaving with the hot morning sun beating down on her that she could not get used to. She shed the sweatshirt she had been wearing and walked through the hazy, heated mid morning, still half asleep, to her car. She barely remembered the drive home. When she entered her small apartment, she dropped her keys and her sweatshirt by the front door, flipped on the air conditioner, turned the lock and walked, zombie like, to the bedroom, shedding clothes along the way. With a blissful sigh, she fell into bed and a dreamless sleep, forgetting the troubles of the last twelve hours.

****

Courtney woke with a start, her alarm blaring, telling her it was time to go to work. Except there was no work. Not for a week. She wondered if Jane would find the errors in her data in a week. She reached over to turn off the alarm and found her hand trapped between it and a boot. She looked up and saw Loki sitting on her windowsill, the light of the moon silhouetting him against the bright night sky. She couldn't see his face, but he cocked his head.

“Do all mortals sleep in such states of...undress?” he asked, quietly.

Courtney pulled her hand out from underneath his boot and pulled the covers up to her chin.

“It was hot,” she mumbled into her chest.

Loki stood and towered over her.

“Let me fix that for you,” he said.

The room grew suddenly colder and she shivered violently. Loki stepped into the moonlight and she saw his pale skin was now a deep blue and his eyes were blood red. She gasped in fear and scrambled backwards on the bed, but he leaned over her and grabbed her forearm. His touch burned like fire and she screamed.

“You have been banished from the presence of Jane Foster, yes?” he asked.

She nodded and brought her hand to the place where he had touched as he released her. The skin there was ice cold and hard to the touch. She rubbed it vigorously, trying to restore circulation to the area. Loki sat down on the edge of her bed, his skin returned to it's previous hue, and touched her injured arm almost tenderly.

“How do you intend on monitoring her progress from here?” he asked disdainfully, sweeping a hand to take in the whole of her meager room.

“It's only for a week,” she stammered. “I'll be back there soon and then I can-”

Loki lunged at her, grabbing her underneath both arms and hauled her naked body against his armored chest. Despite her abject terror, she felt her nipples harden against the cool metal and leather and was disgusted her hear a low moan torn from her throat. Loki chuckled and snaked one arm around her back to fist in her hair.

“In a week that damnable woman could figure out how to traverse the branches of Yggdrasil and your human armies could march on my throne. Do you really think your rulers will be content to simply be allies with a realm as rich as Asgard? It is essential that they do not gain the skill to travel between our worlds. But here you are, failing me, as I suspected you would in the beginning.”

He pulled her head back further until breathing became difficult and the tendons in her neck screamed.

“Loki,” she gasped. “Don't.”

“Don't what?” he asked smoothly. “Kill you? Leave you here broken for your kin to find and wonder what kind of monster would be capable of such an act?”

He dumped her unceremoniously on the bed and pinned her body down with his. He reached a hand between her legs and scoffed when it came away wet.

“Your race truly does crave subjugation. It's a shame you've done nothing to earn such a reward.”

In a flash he was standing over her again and she was left on the bed, hot and cold at the same time, gasping for breath.

“A week. You return to your duties and there will be no more second chances. If Jane Foster finds the way between the realms before then or you disappoint me again, there will be no escape from my wrath.”

He turned away towards the window and, in a flash, was gone.


	3. Surveillance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's everywhere and nowhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't really think Selvig is like this, but I needed an antagonist for this chapter, so.... Thanks for the kudos so far!

Courtney knew it had been Jane's intention for the next week to be relaxing for her, but the reality was far different. She was seeing Loki everywhere and wasn't sure if she was losing her mind or if he was actually there. From a flash of green out of the corner of her eye during class to a well dressed man on the street that looked almost like him, but not quite, and held her stare for a beat more than was appropriate. By the middle of the week she was a nervous wreck and had taken to not leaving her apartment. 

That was where she currently was, sitting on the couch and flipping through channels on the television, but not really watching. She felt like a prisoner in her own home and longed to do something other than sit here and contemplate all the ways this situation could end badly for her. She could lose her job, her scholarship, or she could end up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. cell somewhere. Most likely, someone would find her mangled dead body and no one would have a clue as to what had happened to her.

A sudden wave of anger rushed through her. How dare he?! What gave him the right to terrify her like this? Sure, he was pretty much a god and sure he could kill her with a snap of his fingers, but he wasn't going to make her afraid to live her life. She threw the remote control defiantly down on the couch and marched to a window and looked out. The apartment complex's pool shimmered like a sapphire down below, surrounded by people. Surely, she'd be safe down there. Wouldn't she?

After a moments deliberation she decided that she didn't really care either way. She was going down there and she'd be damned if she let him stop her. It was probably all in her imagination anyway. She threw on her bathing suit, grabbed a towel, shoved a bottle of sunscreen in her purse and walked down the sun warmed stairs with an air of fatality and purpose that almost made her lightheaded.

The air around the pool shimmered with desert heat and was filled with the sounds of splashing and laughter. She laid her towel out on the cement and started applying sunscreen. As she was rubbing it into her legs, she happened to look up and caught the eye of a child of about nine or ten sitting next to his mother. He was very fair with dark hair and green eyes. He was eating an ice cream cone and watching her intently. She adopted her best grown-up-glare with the hopes that it would intimidate him into looking away, but he gave a sideways smirk and licked his ice cream cone in a way that was far too lecherous for a boy of his age. Fear hit her in the middle like ice and the world condensed down to she and him, all else fading away. He lifted his free hand to the side of his head in an imitation of a telephone and mouthed:

“Call me.”

From inside her purse, her cell phone rang and she gave out a shriek. The world swam back into focus and she realized everyone was staring at her. When she looked back over to the boy he was eating his ice cream, paying no attention to her, and any malice that had surrounded him was gone. He was just a child. Courtney shook her head, ashamed at herself and questioning her sanity even more. She reached into her purse and grabbed her phone. Answering her call as she brought it up to her ear.

“Hello?” she asked hesitantly.

“Courtney,” Selvig's voice sounded cheerfully from the other end of the call. “I'm glad I caught you. Do you think you could come in today?”

“Eric, hi,” she answered. “Um, Jane said that I was to take this week-”

“I know what Jane said,” he interrupted. “But we fixed the problem and in going through the data, we had a breakthrough. A big one, as a matter of fact. It's...well, it's amazing. Jane thought you'd like to be a part of it.”

Courtney sat in silence, dread filling her. This could not be good. Whatever breakthrough they had made was sure to anger Loki. She'd come to the conclusion over the last few days that the Loki she had met was at his most controlled. She had no desire to see him angry. She looked over at the boy again. He had finished his ice cream cone and was now dangling his feet in the water. Nothing about his posture gave any indication that he was paying even the slightest bit of attention to her. Eric's voice through the phone jolted her out of her thoughts.

“Courtney,” he said. “Courtney? Hello? Are you still there?”

She cleared her throat and answered.

“Yes, sorry. I'm sorry. I'm here. How exciting! Give me a little bit to get dressed and I'll be right over.”

Eric answered an affirmative and hung up the phone. Courtney put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. When she looked back up, the boy was gone. She walked over to the woman he had been sitting next to and cleared her throat. The woman looked up from her book and shielded her eyes against the sun.

“Yes,” she asked.

“Your son,” Courtney said. “He's, um, well.... I saw him sitting with his feet in the pool, but he's not there anymore. I was just worried. Um... I couldn't swim at that age, so....”

She trailed off awkwardly. The woman looked at her for a long beat before answering.

“I don't have a son, honey. Must have been someone else's kid.... Are you okay?”

Courtney nodded dumbly and headed back to her apartment to change without another word.

 

****

 

The first sign that something was wrong was that there was only one car in front of the lab. If there had been some great breakthrough, she would have expected more vehicles. She should have left then, but didn't. When she walked into the building, everything was dim and quiet. The thought that she shouldn't be there again flashed through her mind, but was cut short by Eric coming up behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. She started and turned around.

“Eric,” she admonished. “You scared the life out of me.”

He regarded her coolly and sat down in a chair, motioning for her to do the same.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Courtney sat, not liking any of this, and must have visibly paled when he pulled out a print out with her changes circled in red pen.

“I haven't shown this to Jane yet,” he said. “I thought I'd give you the courtesy of explaining yourself first.”

She looked down at the data and then back up at him, trying to formulate a quick lie.

“What are you talking about?” she asked innocently. Or she tried to, but her voice came out high-pitched and strained.

“Don't lie to me,” he said sternly. “Jane might have turned down most of the surveillance that S.H.I.E.L.D. offered us, but these computers record keystrokes. These changes were made to data that is months old, but the keystrokes weren't recorded until the night you were on the clock. That means either you made them or you let someone in and they made them. Which is it? Who are you working for? I know there are companies that will pay large sums to get one up on Stark Industries and I'm guessing you're a mole. If you come clean, I'll make sure this all goes easy for you. I have connections that even Jane doesn't have, but I need to know who you're working for.”

She almost laughed. His assumption was so pedestrian and terrestrial that it was ridiculous. What was she going to tell him? Yes, I'm a spy. An alien god told me to fudge the data or he'd kill me.

If she told the truth, she had no doubt Loki would end her right here and Selvig, too. If she lied, she'd go to prison. At best. Her brief amusement must have shown on her face, because Eric brought his fist down on a desk, startling her.

“You think this is a game?” he almost yelled. “Do you want a repeat of what happened in New York? Or London? This is far from funny. I had the God of Lies living in my head and I take this very seriously. What happened in London might not have happened if people had listened to me in the first place. Nothing like that is ever going to happen to me, or anyone else out there, ever again. Not if I can help it.”

He grabbed her by her upper arm and held it tight. His next words were calm, but nothing else about him was.

“You're young and very smart, but to be young means to make mistakes. I'm sure this was all a mistake, right? Someone offered you something you couldn't refuse, or knows something that they can manipulate you with. Right? None of this is your fault. Just tell me. Who. Are. You. Working. For?”

He had stood up as he was talking, never releasing her arm and with each of his last words pulled her to her feet and closer to him, until she was toe to toe and looking up into his angry eyes.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she said quietly.

The look of anger that flashed across his face took her breath away and he raised a hand as if he was going to hit her. What happened next took only an instant. There was a flash of light, something she was confused to find filled her with relief, and something or someone barreled into her, then it felt as if she were being forced through a pinhole. Her last conscious thought was that she wasn't going to fit and then everything went dark.


End file.
